WeeklySA_AdminWORLD CUP QUALIFIERS: HUGO BROOS’ CHARGES FACE WOUNDED CHEETAHS ON TUESDAY
By Sports Reporter
Bafana Bafana are the new leaders of Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers after they beat a resolute Lesotho 2-0 at a packed Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane early evening Friday.
They now have 10 points from five matches. Benin are second in the standings on eight points after they were forced to a 2-2 draw by Zimbabwe in Durban.
Benin will welcome South Africa in Abidjan Tuesday in the clash of first against second. Rwanda dropped to third with seven points after they fell to Nigeria 2-0 in Kigali. The Super Eagles climbed to fourth after they recorded six points.
Lesotho are now fifth on five points from as many games, while Zimbabwe remain rock bottom on three points.
During the last 12 months, Benin and South Africa went head-to-head once. The goal score is 1 : 2 in favor of South Africa. The last match between the teams happened in November as part of the FIFA World Cup CAF Qualification 2026.
Granted, Bafana may have won, but coach Hugo Broos stated that he was forced to made adjustments during the second half because he was dissatisfied with the team’s performance in the first half of their 2-0 victory over Lesotho.
Relebohile Mofokeng and Jayden Adams scored the two goals for Bafana, and these were their first goals for the national team.
“It was very important today that we had the three points,” Broos said on SABC Sport after the game. “We knew that it should be a tough game. We had four good chances in the first half and were supposed to score, so had to correct something.
After their game with Lesotho, Bafana then fly to Côte d’Ivoire by charter to face Benin in the second qualifier a few days later.
Benin, like nearly half of the African countries hosting World Cup qualifiers over the next week are being forced to host their matches in neutral venues as the Confederation of African Football continues to clamp down on poor facilities.
Broos says the only advantage we have here is that Benin are playing in Ivory Coast, so a big crowd and their supporters will not be there. That is a little advantage for us.”
If South Africa wins their encounter against Benin, they will have 13 points which will make it difficult for the Super Eagles to gain all six points in their World Cup qualifiers.
Kick-off for the Benin/Bafana game 6pm.
